Fix-It GitF
by LittleWhoMouse
Summary: This is based on Vannadear's comment about the 11th Doctor having to head-butt people for telepathy. Aka What would happen if Ten did that to Madame Pompadour?


_Thanks to AAA for making sure my grammar wasn't too terrible._

* * *

After Rose and Mickey had left to look for the clockwork droid, the Doctor closed the mirror portal and slowly turned towards Reinette. She stood there with her hands clenching her gilded dress and her brows furrowed with worry.

"Reinette," he said gently as he placed his hands on her arms. "You're going to have to trust me. I need to find out what they're looking for and there's only one what I can do that."

"How?"

"I need to look inside your head. But –" Nervously, he cleared his throat. "It's going to hurt. I'll try and be as gentle as I can," he said, raising his hands to the side of her head.

When she nodded, he gently placed the tips of his fingers on her and closed his eyes. Reinette followed his example and did the same.

"Here goes nothing," the Doctor muttered before he slammed his head against hers. He let go of Reinette as a rush of images came to him, and he realized what the clockwork droids had been scanning for in her head.

"Looks like they want your brain, Reinette," he said, rubbing his forehead. "The last part they need. Only you're not as old as them yet." He opened his eyes. "Reinette?" He looked down at his feet and saw her crumpled on the floor. "Damn. Must have hit her harder than I thought."

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Madam? Madam?" called the voice of an old woman. "The king is asking for you, madam."

The Doctor looked at the door and for a moment he had a sense of vertigo. The timelines where shifting. If Reinette wasn't at the masquerade, the king would choose another for his mistress. "Double damn." He cleared his throat and tried to mimic Reinette, "I just need a moment to powder my nose."

"There is something wrong with your voice, madam. Are you unwell?" The door handle begin to turn.

"NO!" the Doctor cried as he rushed to press himself against the door. "No, do not enter. I think I may be coming down with a cold. Please tell the king I will be with him soon."

The Doctor pressed his ear to the door and listened as the maid shuffled her feet. "Very well, madam. But please hurry. His majesty does not like to be kept waiting."

Just as the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief, the mirror door opened and Rose stepped through. "Doctor, you have to come with me! One of those robots tried to attack us. It knocked out Mickey, but I managed to shoot it before it got me."

"Where's Mickey?" the Doctor asked as he moved to kneel by Reinette's side.

"Had to drag him back to the TARDIS. Lord but he's heavy," she said, leaning against the frame of the door. "Next time he complains about me eating chips, I'm going to remind him of this."

"So he's safe?"

"For now, yes." She pushed off the door frame and walked towards the Doctor. "Why?"

"Because I need you to help me undress Reinette," he said, rolling the unconscious woman onto her stomach.

Rose crouched down. "I'm sorry, what?"

"She needs to be at the ball, Rose, because this is the night the king makes her his mistress. But when I went into her head, I -" He scratched the back of his neck and shifted nervously. "I accidently knocked her out."

"So just dump some water on her, or try slapping her cheeks. No need to get her naked," she said, pushing his hands away from the buttons of the dress.

"No, you don't understand. I didn't just knock her out with a bump on her head there was probably a bit of feedback from me too. And humans can't handle a Time Lord mind."

"Or their egos," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "Stop that!" Rose slapped his hands from the buttons once more. "Why are you so determined to undress her?"

The Doctor looked up at her as if she'd just dribbled on her shirt. "Because you need to put this dress on. Now let me get this done while you fix up your hair."

Placing a finger under his chin, Rose tilted the Doctor's head up so he was looking her. She didn't say anything – merely lifted her eyebrow.

The Doctor gulped. "It's – it's for the sake of the timelines, Rose," and then as an afterthought added, "Please?"

With a sigh, she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm sure the TARDIS must have a dress I can use. One that at least looks similar enough that no one will question it."

The Doctor just blinked at her and tried once again to reach for the buttons.

"Oh my god, you're slow," she said, grabbing his hands. "Do you have any idea how many undergarments she's probably wearing to give her those hips? It'll take too long for me to put everything on and then take it all off again for when she needs it." She let go of his hands and stood up. "It'd be better if I wore a similar dress, so she can just sneak in and take my place when she finally does come to." Rose looked down at Reinette. "How long exactly is she supposed to be unconscious for anyway?"

"An hour or two," the Doctor said distractedly as he tugged his ear. Now that he was focused on this new plan (one he was sure he would have thought of himself), he felt calmer and clearheaded. "If this is going to work, Rose, you should come back through the door that opens to the Gardens of Versailles. It's down the corridor and two rights from the TARDIS."

"Why there?"

"If I'm right, that door is about twelve hours behind this one. So it should take you to earlier this morning. Gives you a bit more time to get ready." He stood up and grabbed her arm. "But, Rose, I'm still not sure how all these time windows work yet. So don't take too long, yeah?"

She snorted. "I'm not you." Ignoring the Doctor's indignant 'Oi!', she turned to looked at the clock. "Eight," she muttered and then grinned up at the Doctor with smile that looked more confident than she felt. "See ya soon."

The Doctor gave her arm one last squeeze before he let her go. When the mirror door closed behind Rose, the door to the bedroom opened and Rose hurried inside.

"Whew! For a moment there, I thought I was never going to leave," she said, grinning at him as she leaned against the door, clutching her mask in her hand.

The Doctor felt the air whoosh from his lungs. Although her hair and dress were similar to Reinette's own, Rose looked nothing like the future mistress of France.

Reinette had been brought up to be the ideal mistress; cool, calm and poised. Every move she made; from the way she spoke, to the way she tilted her head, and even how she stepped was all calculated to draw attention to her, to hold and captivate her audience. Nothing she ever did was completely spontaneous. Even when she has kissed the Doctor, he had seen the way she'd hesitated, weighing the decision, before she grabbed him.

But Rose, with her cheeks flushed and her – the Doctor gulped – bosom heaving, glowed with unbridled passion. Warm and vivacious, she didn't need to think about how she presented herself or how to charm others. Not when everything about her was already so naturally – "Beautiful," murmured the Doctor.

"For a human," Rose said with a tongue-in-teeth smile.

"No," the Doctor rasped, his gaze flickering between her lips and the rise and fall of her chest. His palms itched, his muscles tightened, and he felt his temperature rise by half-a-degree. The Doctor forced himself to stay perfectly still; knowing that if he moved, he would shove Rose up against that door and lap at the valley between her breasts.

Rose shifted, feeling uncomfortable under his dark gaze. She'd heard him boasting about snogging Reinette, and hadn't missed the looks they shared earlier that day – or was it only a few minutes ago. _Maybe_, she thought, _he's got a fetish for women in 18__th__ century gowns_.

Pushing away from the door, she walked over to the unconscious woman on the floor. "I only came to get her necklace. The king gave it to her so he would know it was her." She placed her mask down and untied the chain. "Good thing too, because there are quite a few ladies in the same gowns and masks. You'd love it," she said with cynical grin as she stood up and tried to clasp the necklace around her throat. Cool hands covered hers and took it from her. Rose twirled around. "Doctor?"

"You can't go," he said, shaking his head.

"Wha?"

"You're too…too…" He waved his hand up and down at her. "You're nothing like her," he said, pointing at Reinette with the hand that held the necklace.

With a growl, Rose swiped it from him and then bent down to pick up her mask.

"Rose," he huffed, ruffling his hair. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Oh no, I'm sure you did." She fixed the necklace around her neck and then slipped on her mask. "The most accomplished woman who ever lived versus a girl from the Estate. I'm sorry I couldn't be something more for you. But I'm all you've got right now."

The Doctor grabbed her arm before she could storm out of the room. "That is _not_ what I meant."

She yanked her arm from him. "If you'll excuse me, Doctor, I have to go seduce a king," she said and then hurried through the door, ignoring the Doctor's shouts for her to come back.

* * *

Rose stood on the edge of the dance of floor watching as the men and women held their hands behind their backs and glided towards and away from each other before spinning past their partners. The Baroque music was livelier than Rose had imagined it would be, and she unconsciously began to mimic the movement of the women's feet.

She wished she knew a few more of these dances, but had only had time to learn a little of the minuet from a maid named Marguerite. The young girl had been beating a rug when Rose had stumbled upon her. With nothing better to do, she'd struck up a conversation with the maid and, after offering a few gold coins, was soon learning all the courtly gossip. Rose smiled to herself. Marguerite had been quite the shrewd business woman.

"May I ask what amuses you so, milady?" asked a gentleman in cream coloured outfit with gold trim and a blue sash. In a room filled with elaborate masks covered with silk and feathers, his was an extraordinarily plain leather mask.

Rose straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. "I was merely contemplating on how disappointed all those ladies will be when they discover the man with the sun mask, whom they've all been swooning over, is not their king," she said, trying to do her best impression of a Jane Austen heroine. She suddenly felt incredibly grateful that Shareen had developed a crush on Colin Firth, and had forced her to watch _Pride and Prejudice_ at least once every year.

"And how would you know that? Unless you have seen his face."

"A true mistress should know her lord by more that. She should recognize him by his bearing and tone of his voice." She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and leaned in a little closer. "But if you really must know what gave him away, it was his eyes."

"His eyes?" he asked as he placed his hand on the small of her back.

"Yes, his are blue and yours, your majesty, are a lovely shade of brown," she said with a tongue-in-teeth grin.

His gaze slipped to her mouth and then a little further before they rose to hers once more.

"I gave a necklace like that to a lady earlier today."

Rose nervously licked her lips. "Really? My, what excellent taste you have."

"And I happen to know there is no other like it," he said, slipping his hand to her hip and pulling her closer to him.

"Why, sire, it sounds as if you are accusing me of being a thief," she said with a breathy little laugh.

"Maybe more," he growled against her ear as he reached with his free hand for her arm, caging her from behind against his body. "I think, my dear lady mystery, you and I should go for a walk in the gardens before I summon my guards."

"Are – are you sure you wouldn't prefer to dance?" she asked, trying to wiggle free.

"And let you slip from my grasp?" He tightened his grip on her arm, stilling her movement. "No. Now come along."

Rose bowed her head in defeat. "Yes, sire." She hoped she could figure a way out of this mess before the Doctor found her. The last thing she wanted to see right now was one of his 'I told you so' grins. It was worse than Mickey's dance.

* * *

The king did not let go of Rose until they were hidden from any prying eyes, but still close enough to the palace that his guards could hear him if he shouted.

"Tell me where you got that necklace?" he demanded, spinning Rose around to face him. "Did the lady give it to you, or have you harmed her?"

"She's fine, sire," Rose said, deciding to revert back to her normal accent. "She just fainted, that's all." Turning away from him, she tugged at her gown. "These corsets don't exactly allow much room for breathing."

The king's hand brushed up along the buttons on the back of her dress, and she froze, desperately hoping he didn't notice the hidden zip they covered.

"Why did you take it?" he asked as the tips of his fingers skimmed up past the gown's collar and circled around the clasp of the necklace. "Did you hope that if you had it, you would become my mistress?" His hand moved to untie the ribbon of her mask.

"Oh no! Not at all." She pulled away from him, holding her mask to her face. "I mean I'm sure you'd be a fine choice for any woman, but umm…" She turned to him and lowered her mask. "Look, I only did this because we were hoping to keep you distracted long enough for Reinette to recover, and then I was going to slip away."

"We?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The Doctor and me." She moved towards the king and gently placed a hand on his arm. "She really didn't want to miss this evening with you."

He pushed his mask up onto the top of his head. "How do I know what you say is true?"

Rose unclasped the necklace and held it out to him. "Because all of this means nothing to me. I was only trying to help a friend."

He stared at the necklace for a moment before cupping her hand and folding her fingers around it. "And what if I offered you the position of being my mistress instead? You could have a house, a title, and as many servants as you wanted."

Rose raised an eyebrow, wondering if this was some sort of test. "And what makes you think I want any of that?"

"Because everyone does," he said as if she were a simpleton.

"Well I don't." She turned her hand in his and let go of the necklace. "That's all just a bit too domestic for me." She moved away from him and looked up into the night sky. "I'd rather be traveling and losing myself in a new city every day. Eating the local food, using the wrong verbs, getting charged double and end up kissing a complete –" She twirled around and stumbled to a stop when she saw the king's dark gaze. "Stranger," she said with a gulp.

"You are nothing like the ladies of this court."

Rose scowled. "Gee, thanks."

The king laughed. "I do not think you understand. Most of those ladies in that ballroom would not have been as honest with me as you have been. It is a rare quality to find in a woman."

"Only most?" she said with a cheeky tongue-in-teeth grin.

His gaze flickered to her mouth and he licked his lips. "You say you were sent as a distraction?" he asked as he stalked towards her.

Rose backed away. Despite the fact that he was very handsome (dark eyes, strong jaw, and a lovely pair of lips), she was not prepared to leap into his bed for the sake of history. When her back hit the wall of the palace, she held up her hand. "I'm not going to sleep with you."

The king let out a bark of laughter. "I was not intending to sleep."

"I'm not going to have sex with you," she said, pressing her hand against his chest and getting ready to knee him in the groin if necessary.

"Who said anything about that?"

Rose furrowed her brow. "Then what do you want?"

"To do as you said." He covered her hand on his chest with his.

"What I said?"

"Kiss a complete stranger."

"Oh," she murmured, gazing at his lips. "Well if that's all –"

The king's pressed his lips to hers and took advantage of her open mouth to slip his tongue inside.

Rose moaned and desperately tried to remember why this was a bad idea. But nothing came to her. She had ended things with Mickey months ago and she and the Doctor were – well, not what she had thought. And hadn't the Doctor been crowing about kissing Madame de Pompadour? Why shouldn't she get to snog someone famous too? She slipped her arms around the king and pressed herself closer.

Just as she was beginning to relax into the kiss, she heard the unmistakable sound of a clock. She pulled away with a gasp. "Stop," she said breathlessly, pushing her hand against the king's chest. "Stop, do you hear that?"

The king looked at her with dark heavy-lidded eyes. "Hear what?"

Rose gasped as she saw the glint of a blade behind the king. She shoved him to the side just as the blade came down and then stopped before it nicked her arm.

"Louis!" cried Reinette as she hurried to the fallen king.

"Rose!" the Doctor ran up to her and grabbed her arm to examine it. "Are you all right? Did he hurt you?" he whispered, wondering if the king had threatened or forced her in some way. Why else would she have been kissing him?

"Don't worry, I'm fine. For once your timing was perfect." She turned to extend her hand to the king. "Sorry about that. But I couldn't let you get your head chopped off, now could I?" she said with a cheeky grin.

The king pulled himself up with Rose's help, but did not let go of her hand once he was standing. "I'm in your debt – Rose, was it?"

"Yes, Rose Tyler. Suppose I should've mentioned that earlier before – well, before, you know."

The Doctor clenched his teeth together when he saw Rose's blush. Just what had passed between her and the king besides that kiss?

"Then we would not have been strangers," the king said with a smirk.

"I suppose not." She returned his smile with one of her own tongue-in-teeth grins.

"And I'm the Doctor," he said, shoving Rose behind him and grabbing the king's hand. "Not that you asked. Rude that, since I'm the one that stopped that droid."

The king pulled his hand from the Doctor's hold, and then stared at him with a bored expression. "Then I suppose I should thank you for stopping that thing before it harmed the Lady Rose."

"Lady Rose?" the Doctor said with snort.

Rose scowled and poked him from behind, forcing him to move aside.

"You are not a lady?"

Rose felt her cheeks burn.

"No, she's just Rose," The Doctor said as if this explained everything.

"I'm a Dame," Rose said with a pout. "Or did you forget?"

"Only a Dame? Perhaps you will allow me to offer you a better title."

"Louis!" Reinette whined, looking hurt. "You have already promised me a title."

"And you seem to have forgotten that I am your king and may do as I wish," he snapped.

Reinette blushed as she dipped into a curtsy. "I am sorry, your majesty."

"What say you, Rose? Would you like a new and better title?"

The Doctor ground his teeth as Rose giggled. "I thought I told you how I felt about that, sire."

"You did, but I find I'm reluctant to let you go just yet. Especially since we were so rudely interrupted."

"A kiss for a title?"

"Perhaps a little more now that we are no longer strangers."

"She can't!" the Doctor snapped, fists clenched.

Rose raised an eyebrow. "I can't?"

"No!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her away from the king to face him. "Think what your mother would say."

Rose tapped a finger against her chin. "Mum was pretty chuffed when I told her about the Dame thing."

"All right, forget Jackie. Bad example. What sort of morals is she teaching you, anyway?"

"Oi!" She smacked his shoulder. "That's my mum you're talking about!"

"Why is a physician trying to dictate your life, Rose?" The king asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is he a relation of yours? Your father perhaps?"

Rose snorted.

"I am not her father. I'm her…I'm her –" The Doctor frowned and ruffled his hair, feeling frustrated with how limiting the human language could be.

Rose clenched her hands and tried to ignore the sudden pressure on her heart. She couldn't help but wonder why he couldn't answer such a simple question.

"It does not matter who he is to_ her_, sire." Reinette step forward, trying to reclaim her place. "For the Doctor is far more important. He is a lord of time. A lonely angel who has saved –"

Rose's laughter, a slightly high hysterical sound, interrupted her. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Lonely angel? She know about the –"

"One time! That was one time!"

"Oh no! I didn't mean that time. I meant Zarous three."

"Zarous –" The Doctor started laughing. "With the –"

"Yes, and the –"

"Deli meat!" they said at the same time, howling even more.

"Doctor!"

They both turned to Reinette, who was scowling at them with her hands on her hips, and quickly sobered up.

"Sorry," they muttered.

Rose smiled softly to herself. For a moment, it had felt like they were them again. She curled her fingers into her dress, trying to alleviate the need for his hand in hers.

"As I was saying, your majesty, the Doctor has saved me many times when I was a child from these," she waved at hand the clockwork droid, "creatures."

The droid suddenly switched back on and everybody tensed. But it merely looked at them with its black hollow eyes before it disappeared.

"Sorcery," the king muttered in shock.

The Doctor snorted. "Science, actually. And much too advance for you or your guards to deal with."

"And you can?"

"Yes," he said, straightening his shoulders and giving the king a glimpse of the 'On Coming Storm'

The king gave the Doctor a long hard stare before he finally acquiesced and inclined his head. "If they are, as you claim, after Reinette, then why would they try to harm me when I was with Rose?"

"Probably because it thought you were with Reinette," the Doctor said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, and rocking back and forth on heels of his feet. "It just couldn't see Rose properly since you were busy sucking her face off."

Rose scowled at the Doctor, determined to have words with him about his double standards later.

"I do not know where you come from Doctor, but in France we call that a kiss," the king said, looking at Rose with a wolfish grin.

The Doctor's fists clenched and he bared his teeth. "Well, I call it –"

"None of your business," Rose snapped. "This isn't getting us anywhere. Look, your majesty, it was nice and all." She glanced at his lips. "Maybe a little more than nice, but I really need to get back to helping the Doctor. Reinette's here now so I'm –" Her breath caught in her throat. "I'm no longer needed to – to distract you." Rose felt slightly light headed, wondering if the king wasn't the only one who didn't need her anymore.

The sound of trumpets blared from the ballroom.

Reinette stepped forward and placed her hand the king's arm. "Your majesty, we should be heading back to the ball. The unmasking will start soon."

He looked at Reinette and nodded his head. Stepping forward, he extended his hand to Rose, which she placed in his, and kissed her hand. "I do not pretend to understand everything that has happened, but I am certain of one thing." He looked at her with a soft gentle smile. "If ever you should change your mind, dear Rose, come to me." He turned and walked back to the ballroom with Reinette hurrying after him.

The Doctor frowned. "Well you've certainly made quite the impression on him."

"No more than you made on her."

"Rose –" he said, trying to reach for her. But she held up her hand to stop him.

"Do we even know why they want her?

The Doctor didn't answer right away. He just stared at her, torn between wanting to demand to know why she let the king kiss her and snogging her himself. He took a deep breath and decided that right now whatever was going on between them could wait.

"For her brain, but only once she's thirty-seven; same age as the ship."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"Well she's from the 18th century. Why would a ship in the 51st want her? That'd be like going from a Macbook Pro to Windows 95. All the stuff she knows is ancient compared to them. So why the downgrade? Why not use one of the crewmen who'd actually know their programs?"

"Good point. But we won't find the answer here." He waggled his fingers. "Come on!"

She looked down at his hand and hesitated before she took it. The Doctor gripped her hand tightly and Rose hand to wiggle her fingers several times to get him to loosen his hold just a bit as they rushed back to Reinette's room.

* * *

"Isn't there a way to close all these bloody things? There's gotta be a lock or something, right?" Rose asked as they stepped back onto the spaceship.

"That, Rose Tyler, is exactly what I intend to do. But first we have to find the central computer."

The Doctor turned around and used his sonic screwdriver to scan the time window. "Hmm…just as I thought. Time's jumping a head now that we're both back. That's a nice little safety feature."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, hurrying along beside him as the Doctor strode down the halls.

"So long as we were on the other side, the time windows weren't moving forward. Wouldn't do to leave one of your own behind."

"You figured out how these things work?"

"I came up with a few theories while you were dallying with the king." Rose glared and tried to tug her hand free, but the Doctor ignored her. "All these time windows are moving at various speeds through Reinette's life. Some, like the door to the gardens and her bedroom at the palace, are twelve hours apart. Others are years. When we crossover, all the time windows freeze where they are like one of those slot machines in a casino."

"But why? If they know when they want her, why bother playing this game?"

"Because of how badly the ship's been damaged. They're stuck trying to test each time window, cycling through her timeline, until they hit the jackpot. And we need to pull the plug before they do." The Doctor frowned as he looked down at the light flashing on his screwdriver. The time on the other side of the windows was slowing down again.

Suddenly, Rose and the Doctor heard screams coming from down the left corridor. They raced towards the sound and came to another giant mirror which overlooked the ballroom floor.

The Doctor quickly scanned the time window. "Damn! Damn! We're too late. They've found the right one."

Rose tried to push it open, but the mirror wouldn't budge. "How do we get in there? Can we use the TARDIS?"

"No, as long as these windows are open the two time steams are linked together. We need to shut them off before we can use the old girl."

"So how do we close it?"

"The easiest way right now is by breaking that mirror. If we sever the connection, that little safety feature of theirs will work to our advantage and shut down all the others. They'll be trapped."

"Well then…" Rose picked up a metal bar, but the Doctor grabbed her hand before she could smash it against the window.

"Hyperplex this side, plate glass the other. We need a truck." Hearing the clip-clop of hooves behind them, they turned to see Arthur. "Or at least nine hundred pounds."

"Brilliant," cried Rose, moving to Arthur's side. "I'll take him through and you can pick me up in the TARDIS. You do know the right date, yeah?"

"No, I'll go," he said, yanking her away from the horse.

Arthur whinnied, shaking his head as he moved past them towards the mirror.

Rose wriggled free from his grasp. "Well there's a dumb idea. Look, the king likes me, so I'm sure he won't mind setting me up for a few days if you're a little late getting there."

She tried to go to Arthur's side again, but the Doctor pulled her back behind the horse. "Oh yes, I saw just how much the king liked you." He'd be damned if he let her go back to that smug git.

"Well, you can't go, given how much Reinette likes you." She jabbed her finger against his chest. "At least I won't have to worry about losing my head."

"Just your knickers," he snapped, knowing he was going too far but too furious to care.

Rose wondered if being slapped would have hurt less. "Why you arrogant asshole!"

"Can everyone just calm down? Please," called Reinette from beyond the mirror.

With a scowl, Rose turned and smacked the horse's bottom. Arthur reared up and charged through the mirror, shattering the time window.

The Doctor stared at the broken hyperplex. "Well that's another option, I suppose."

Rose spun on her heel and stormed back to the TARDIS.

Cursing under his breath, the Doctor hurried after her. "Rose?"

"Are all those time windows closed?"

The Doctor quickly scanned around and found no abnormal readings. "Yes, they're closed."

"Well then let's go make sure those things didn't hurt her, yeah? Who knows what they'll do now that they're trapped."

She pushed open the TARDIS door and nearly stumbled over Mickey.

"Bugger." She crouched down and tapped his cheeks. "Mickey, Mickey." She looked up at the Doctor. "He doesn't have a concussion, does he?"

The Doctor quickly switched the settings on his sonic and then ran it along Mickey's head. "No, he's fine. Looks like they just sedated him. Come on, we'll need to strap him in."

With Rose's helped, the Doctor picked Mickey up in fireman's carry. "By Rassilon, you weren't kidding when you said he was heavy," the Doctor said with a huff as he moved Mickey to the jump seat.

They strapped him in and then the Doctor started the flight sequence.

It only took a few seconds before they landed and hurried out to the ballroom.

When they arrived, they saw a small circle had formed around Reinette, who was kneeling on the floor. Two clockwork droids were on either side of her with their blades at her throat.

"You are merely the nightmare of my childhood. The monster from under my bed. And if my nightmare can return to plague me, then rest assured –" Reinette lowered her voice, "so will yours."

The Doctor stepped forward. "Madame de Pompadour, I heard you were having trouble with your clocks again."

Rose moved to stand by the king. "Hello, your majesty," she whispered to him. "Sorry about the mirror."

"Rose?" He looked at her in surprise. "You look as young as I remember."

"Thanks." She smiled up at him and then turned back to watch the Doctor.

"The link with the ship is broken. No way back." He leaned in close to one of the droids. "And you don't have the parts to fix-it."

The lead droid tried to use its teleport, pressing the button again and again.

"How many ticks left in that clockwork heart? A day? An hour?" The Doctor slipped his hands inside his trouser pockets and rocked back on his heels. "It's over. Accept that because I'm not winding you up."

The clockwork droid finally dropped its arm. It turned to look at Reinette one last time before it wound down and slumped forward. The others quickly followed suit.

The Doctor held out his hand to Reinette. "You all right?"

Taking his hand, Reinette nodded as the Doctor helped to pull her to her feet. "What happened to them?"

"They've stopped," he said stuffing his hands back into his pockets and looking around the room for Rose. "They have no purpose now."

"Doctor," the king called, "once again your timing is impeccable." He turned to his servants. "Come! Clear away this mess." And then he then looked about the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, let us move from the Hall of Mirrors to the Salon d'Hercule. It is perhaps a bit smaller for such a large gathering; but I, for one, find I have much to celebrate this evening."

The crowd cheered in agreement, some raising their glasses, and slowly began to leave the room. The king turned to Rose and presented his arm to her.

The Doctor quickly dashed to Rose's side and placed a hand on her waist. "I'm sorry, your majesty, we'd love to stay and chat, but things to do, planets to save." He needed to get her away or at least remind her of the potential STDs she could get if she stayed. _That should put her off_, he thought.

The king ignored the Doctor and continued to stare at Rose.

"I'm sorry, your majesty. The –" She took a deep breath and twisted her head side to side. "The Doctor's right." His hand on her waist tightened and she swore she could feel his smug grin. "And I'm really not cut out for the courtly life."

The king frowned. "I am not accustomed to a woman refusing me as often as you have, Rose. However, I shall let you go if you grant me one last request," he said, leaning forward.

"Sorry, your majesty," the Doctor said, swooping Rose up. "Reinette." He gave her a quick nod. "It's been fun, but we really have to go. Bye!" He dashed back to the TARDIS with a bewildered Rose in his arms.

Once they were safely behind the doors of the TARDIS, the Doctor dropped Rose and then hurried to controls.

"Oi! Rude," she shouted, following him up the ramp. The Doctor jerked the controls of the ship and Rose was forced to quickly grab hold of a coral strut.

"What on earth is wrong with you, Doctor?" she asked once they were stable inside the Vortex. "The way you're behaving, anyone would think you were jealous."

"Of course I'm jealous," he snapped, looking at her with dark eyes.

"Why?" She pushed away from the strut and marched towards him, determined to get a clear answer. "What are we?"

He huffed and ruffled his hair. "What is it with you humans and your need to categorize and name everything? Why can't you understand?" He grabbed her shoulders. "You're my Rose and I'm…I'm…" he stuttered and stumbled, looking at her with wide pleading brown eyes.

Rose smiled, feeling some of her hurt ease as she finally began to understand why the Doctor couldn't answer the question before. Calling him her boyfriend would sound too juvenile for what they shared. And companion or partner still didn't encompass everything they were. The word they needed was much more complicated, but this was perhaps the closest and simplest way to say it.

She raised a hand and stroked the back of his neck. "My Doctor." But when she looked at his lips, she dropped her hand and ducked her head. "You kissed her," she said, playing with the buttons of his shirt.

He gently raised her head. "And you kissed him."

Rose blushed and hummed in agreement. Shyly, she peeked up at him. "Then maybe it's time we stop kissing other people and…" She nervously cleared her throat, wondering if she was about to make a fool of herself. "Maybe we should try. Kissing, I mean."

The Doctor felt his hearts skip. There were two paths he could take – one that kept them stagnant and was filled with regret, and the other that seemed to glow and shine, bursting with opportunities ready to be taken. But in the end, both would lead to the same heartbreak.

He smiled down at Rose. "That sounds like a brilliant idea, Rose Tyler," the Doctor purred, deliberately curling her name around his tongue in the way he knew always made her shiver. His gaze flickered to her lips as he began to lean in.

"Oh god! My head. What the hell happened?"

The Doctor sprung away from Rose and turned to Mickey.

"Mick-iddy Mick," he cried a little too loudly. "I'll tell you what happened. You got knocked out and missed everything. Good thing Rose was there to save you." He turned to the console, cursing his cowardice, and started to pretend to work at the computer to hide his frustration.

"Rose?" Mickey reeled back when he saw her. "Rose! What the hell are you doing dressed up like that?"

"It's a long story, Mickey," she said, helping him to remove the straps. "Why don't I tell it to you while I make some tea, yeah?"

Slowly, he stood up from the bench and gave his head a quick shake. "Yeah, all right. Definitely need some. My head's a bit fuzzy."

The Doctor looked up from the console in time to see Rose and Mickey disappeared into the bowls of the TARDIS. With a groan, he collapsed into the jump seat and looked up at the time rotor, wondering for the hundredth time why he thought inviting Mickey on board was good idea.

_Next time, _he thought, _next time I won't miss my chance._


End file.
